All Blog Posts Tagged 'criticism' (10)

Time for Reading (R)

Since I started writing, a strange guilt plagues me whenever I read: I feel like I should be writing instead. A really good book overcomes this guilt, because then I consider it research, honing my craft by reading expert writers. My own study of what I want to write and how I will do it makes me intolerant of what I consider mediocre work, so that I often don't finish a book if it hasn't grabbed me by fifty pages or so. I've been trying to expand my knowledge of writers' names, since I often… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on July 1, 2009 at 7:51pm — 4 Comments

On Liking and Not Liking Books

I'm mostly amused but sometimes bemused by people who can't get over the fact that I didn't like a book they liked. They suggest a book or an author, and before I can stop myself, I say something like, "I tried it (or read it) and didn't care for it." Suddenly it's as if I proclaimed that I really enjoyed the last time I sawed off someone's legs. By the look on the person's face, I know I've been relegated in her mind to idiot. She might say something to indicate that I obviously didn't try hard… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 12, 2009 at 9:54pm — 3 Comments

Sean O'Brien and The Given Day

(Cross posted on One Bite at a Time.) Sean O’Brien has written a rambling, somewhat disjointed piece for The Times Online titled “Laws of the Thriller: Sean O’Brien on the ups and downs of thriller writers.” (Thanks to Sarah Weinman’s terrific blog, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mi… Continue

Added by Dana King on February 13, 2009 at 5:44am — 7 Comments

Reviewing the Reviews

(Cross posted at One Bite at a Time.) Book reviews have received a lot of attention lately, largely been because newspapers are dropping them faster than a banker can endorse a bonus check. Various web sites are picking up the slack. Most online booksellers post reader reviews, which may be of dubious merit. Some are written by the writer’s friends; others may be written by competitors with an ax to grind before placing it directly between the a… Continue

Added by Dana King on February 12, 2009 at 1:23am — 3 Comments

The Picky Reader (R)

I admit it; I've become a picky reader. Becoming more aware of writing as I practice the craft, I am increasingly intolerant of writers who are sloppy and formulaic. In the last two days I've started no less than five books only to drop them in the give-away pile an hour or so later. It's something I never would have done in the past, but I've decided that there's too much good writing out there to waste my time on junk. I've ranted here before about secondary characters who have no justificati… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on January 23, 2009 at 10:37pm — 5 Comments

Remember Ruth Buzzi?

The first time I saw her was in a skit where she was a magician's assistant, with a name something like Shegundalah. The first thing you noticed was her large chin, and of course she emphasized it for the sake of humor. Ruth made quite a career out of that chin, but I read once that she had to resist all kinds of pressure to "do something" about it. "They" said she would never make it in show business otherwise. Sara Paretsky was told early on that she'd made two really disastrous mistakes in h… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on December 9, 2008 at 9:54pm — No Comments

Everyone's a Critic. Or Should Be.

In addition to much appreciated writing credits, producing reviews has definitely made me a better fiction writer. Read entire post. Continue

Added by Dana King on September 18, 2008 at 6:23am — No Comments

Where Do You Fit in the Writing Spectrum?

There is in every aspect of life a continuum, and we all fit on it somewhere. I once read an article that told of asking people where they fit on the range between ugly and beautiful. Most felt they were on the plus side of center, and yet on any scale, 50% have to be below and 50 above. So a bunch of homely people are deluding themselves about how scary they look. I suspect it's true for writers as well. I've never met anyone in the business who admitted to being a below-average writer. Even t… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on September 17, 2008 at 10:49pm — No Comments

Writing What We Love (R)

Should you write what you like or what will sell? I find that among my works, I can't say which is better or best; I love whichever one I'm working on right now. I can't imagine being told what to write, and I guess that taking the creativity out of a person's work is what makes a writer a hack. Although I understand the need for editorial intervention once I'm done, before that point I have to write my story. It is this that makes me reluctant to join critique groups that exchange chapters. I… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 27, 2008 at 11:05pm — No Comments

That Boat We're All In (R)

As I read posts and talk with writers, I find striking similarities in the need for outside affirmation. We all write because we're driven to write, but there is beyond that a step that we cannot take by ourselves. In order to be comfortable with calling ourselves writers, we have to be accepted by Others, be it agents, editors, or readers. Just writing isn't enough, at least not for long. When I started writing, it was for myself. I wanted to tell a story, not an important one, but one that ci… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on March 19, 2008 at 11:39pm — No Comments